Friday, July 12, 2013

Some HUGE news regarding the new Kaiser Permanente planned for the UCSF Mission Bay/Potrero Hill neighborhood. Still (IMHO) a ridiculous location when so many of their patients would more greatly benefit from it being located in the Bayview, but at least it won't create an even worse traffic situation and visual barrier for those trying to get through the formerly proposed 16th and Mississippi location.

According the Save the Hill, who have fought this David vs Goliath battle for nearly a year,

This is a huge victory for all of us, and it proves David can still win against Goliath! Now it’s time to celebrate our success with friends, neighbors, and our district supervisor Malia Cohen. Please join us for food, drink and revelry:

UPDATE: Rod Minott, a co-founder of the "Save the Hill" neighborhood group that had opposed Kaiser Permanente's original plans to build a huge medical office building complex in the Potrero Hill district, called Kaiser's decision to move the project to Mission Bay "a win-win for both Potrero Hill and Kaiser, and one that avoided a long, messy fight." Minott also thanked San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen, who represents the Potrero Hill area, for her help "in bringing this about."

Kaiser Permanente is abandoning controversial plans for a 190,000-square-foot medical office building at 16th and Mississippi streets in San Francisco's Potrero Hill district, and instead will put the clinic at 1600 Owens Street in nearby Mission Bay.

Kaiser officials confirmed the switcheroo July 11.

The new site, at 1600 Owens St., is owned by Alexandria Real Estate Equities.Joe Fragola, a Kaiser spokesman, said the site is already approved and permitted, "and allows us to open two years sooner at a big costs savings."

The proposed Potrero Hill site encountered intense community opposition, led by a group called "Save the Hill," which led Kaiser to downsize its plans there last month. Kaiser's medical office building — its term for a clinic and doctors' offices — would have been part of a 700,000-square-foot project at 16th and Mississippi that would have included 189 residential units and about 27,000 square feet of retail space.

Walden Development owns the Potrero Hill property.

Kaiser has created a new, so far bare bones web site to inform San Franciscans about the proposed new clinic site in Mission Bay. It notes that Kaiser "has been searching" for a medical office building location that is convenient to enrollees in the city's eastern and southern neighborhoods.

Officials acknowledged that the earlier Potrero Hill site "was going to take more time and cost more than we had originally anticipated. The new Mission Bay site is on the east side of I-280, they said, is close to public transit, and is part of "an area that's devoted to innovative health care."